What is a Trackpad?
Replace Your Mouse With A Wireless Trackpad
Trackpads (also known as Touchpads) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchpad often substitute for computer mice in laptop computers, with varying results. Many of the early models of trackpad were either too sensitive or not sensitive enough, so the cursor button would overshoot the desired click point, or take a lot of work to move. Compared to the point and click capabilities of a regular mouse, the touchpad was usually lacking, which is why you see a lot of people adding an external mouse to their laptops and tablets.
Some touchpads have multi-touch functionality similar to touchscreens on smartphones like the iPhone. Apple’s Magic Trackpad for the Mac is http://www.pcworld.com/article/202024/apples_magic_trackpad_mouse_killer_or_pointless_device.html?tk=hp_new a wireless model with no buttons and can support the kind of gestures people are used to using with other devices. A trackpad for Windows PCs is likely to be on the horizon if the popularity of the Apple model is sufficient to make people wonder why they were using mice all this time.
Can you design your site to be trackpad compatible? When you consider the number of people who are moving to touchscreen displays and trackpads, this is a good question to ask. Functionality is going to be determined by a limited space in which to move the cursor, so you may want to group buttons in places where people can access them more easily. For devices that may have smaller screens, optimizing the user experience is going to go a long way, and even a subconscious comfort level with a website (because you don’t have to scroll all over creation to get to the next desired page) is going to pay off in the form of a lower bounce rate and more repeat traffic from touchpad enabled devices.
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Notes and Special Information
Special note: Trackpad sensitivity may vary and there are a couple of gestures you want to learn with trackpads.